What is sustainability?

Sustainability is about a number of different things, the environment, global citizenship and making sure we look after our planet for future generations.  

It is not just about individuals, or local communities. It is about making sure everyone in the world has the things they need to meet their basic needs and improve their quality of life. And making sure we don’t damage the planet so that future generations can enjoy it just as much as us.

Sustainability is not just the about environmental issues but also the social and economic problems we face in our everyday lives and how to combat them.

The way we use our planet at the moment is unsustainable, and so we need to look at ways to do things more sustainably.

How do you make things more sustainable?

If we want to ensure a sustainable future we should think about the following things:

• How our actions will affect other people both locally and globally. Our actions might also have consequences that we didn’t plan for and so we should act cautiously.
• Reducing the destruction of nature and the environment, and trying to preserve biodiversity.
• Protecting the diversity of our nature and different cultures.
• The importance of human rights and making sure all people are treated fairly.
• Valuing the world’s resources and making sure we do not use these all up. If we do it will be much harder for future generations.